Early life/education

"I grew up in Buffalo, New York," Harmony Goldberg recounts[1]"My mom was once a Catholic nun; Dad was Jewish. Mom taught at Attica after the uprising. I was radicalized by my parents' political orientation."

"I got a full scholarship to UC Berkeley in 1993. Racism was on the offensive," she says. "When the regents started eliminating affirmative action, I felt personally responsible; here I was, a white woman on a full scholarship, while others were shut out. It felt like an historical moment; I decided to do social justice work."

Radicalization and SOUL

Goldberg and fellow student Rona Fernandez founded SOUL in 1996 to train young people of color in "get out the vote" work against Prop. 209.

"We had correct information, but it didn't matter," Goldberg remembers. "I became revolutionized through the course of my experience of trying to change things electorally, trying to change embedded racism. I concluded that to build power we needed to liberate our own people, instead of trying to convince people in power to do it.

"We studied the Third World movements of the 1960s and 1970s, here and abroad: South Africa, Cuba, China, Chile. We studied the [revolutionary] classics, the histories. We decided to commit to an organizing method, not just direct action or ideological organizing."

The women made SOUL a political education center, as distinct from a political party or an issue advocacy group... Goldberg distances herself from the traditional leftist labels of Marxist, Leninist, Maoist, and Trotskyist while acknowledging an affinity for socialism: "I am not an 'ist,' merely a revolutionary, with identity as a socialist."

Goldberg's politics are heavily influenced by Antonio Gramsci... she also admires Rosa Luxemburg, a communist martyred by German soldiers in 1919, who was highly critical of the Russian Communist Party's "dictatorship of the party, not the workers."

The Summer Of Unity and Liberation (SOUL)[2]grew out of the 1995 student movement at the University of California-Berkeley to support affirmative action. Modeled after the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), SOUL was founded by four Fernandez, Goldberg, Tho Vinh Banh and Amanda Enoch--who were also directly involved in the Berkeley campus organizing. They agreed there was a need to create a program that would address the challenges within multiracial coalitions that organize for social change as well as develop links between college campuses and community organizing.

In 2005 Harmony Goldberg and Raquel Lavina gave talks entitled: "Reclaiming Revolution: Evaluating the Experience of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM)", these talks reviewed lessons learned from the organization STORM, a revolutionary organization in the Bay Area in the 90s. The talks were held at the San Francisco based Center for Political Education.[4]

A look at lessons learned from the organization STORM, a revolutionary organization in the Bay Area in the 90s.

Opposing the "War on Terror"

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 supporters[8]of STORM and the Bay Area Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism established Ad Hoc Committee 'On Poitical Strategy' to fight against Bush's war against terrorism.

As we immersed ourselves in the fightback to Bush's war against terrorism, we felt the need to get our political bearings as leftists. So we organized a discussion attended by 27 diverse left activists in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sept. 30.

September 11, and the Bush administration's reaction to it, is a defining historical moment, ushering in a new and dangerous period in international politics. Washington's agenda is to entrench the national security state and a new level of international dominance on the basis of a permanent war on terrorism--bringing the "new world order" to fruition.

The defining political axis of this new period is Washington's international war on terrorism--and the fight against it...The political and ideological balance of forces, demands, and outcomes of all struggles will be affected by this central issue, to one degree or another.

Given this, the fight for peace should be the central demand for the people's movements...However, peace is not a centrist, liberal demand, but in fact is central to an anti-imperialist agenda. Its main content is that of staying the hand of imperialist war and fighting U.S. militarism in all its forms.

The anti-communist screed launched by Glenn Beck forced forced Van Jones to resign as advisor to President Obama. While Beck’s media maelstrom is reminiscent of the 1950s “Red Scare,” it also reveals the deep fissures in American society. The country is facing off in terms of race and class, with Obama playing the Janus head to both the progressive forces that put him in office and a reinvigorated right.

In the background is the very real possibly (and dare say, hope) of a rising radical force that can push Obama to the left and reshape domestic and foreign policy.

Tonight’s activist panel looks at the ways in which the Van Jones effect opens up crucial questions to radical left forces How do radical left forces interact and relate to this administration? How do we push on critical issues like health care? How did the right wing capture momentum? How does the left get its groove back?[10]

New York activism

In 2009 Harmony Goldberg was "Resource Ally" of the Right to the City Alliance and a supporter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Goldberg is also a PhD student in Cultural Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and she provides political education support for grassroots organizations around the country.[11]

Ear to the Ground Project

We would like to express our deep respect and appreciation for everyone who took the time to talk with us, and the organizations that generously hosted us during our travels. Interviews were confidential, but the following people have agreed to have their names listed for this publication:

Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing

What's the nature of this right-wing threat? What has this election cycle changed about the political terrain we're fighting on? How do we need to prepare for whats coming after the election? Hear about these crucial questions from our panel of top political strategists, including Nelini Stamp, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Linda Burnham, and Sendolo Diaminah.

Coming from what seem like very different starting points (economic justice, racial justice, environmentalism), we've ended up ... See More — with Harmony Goldberg, Anthony Rogers-Wright and Dante Barry.

Attacking Biden

We urge all left-progressive forces to take seriously what will be required to create a united progressive front capable of defeating Biden and going on to expand its influence even as we unite in an even broader coalition to defeat Trump. And to remember that we not only need cooperation on the electoral battlefront, but cooperation at scale in building mass direct action, revitalizing the trade union movement, and organizing large numbers on a host of urgent issues. After all, even if Sanders or Warren wins the presidency and the GOP loses control of both houses of Congress, it will take massive pressure from below to win a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, end mass incarceration, close the border concentration camps, change US foreign policy and begin the new cycle of progressive advance that is an existential imperative for the world’s most vulnerable and the entire human race.

We have to quickly establish sufficient political unity to uphold a progressive front, so that we may develop the technical capacities and infrastructure to allow this progressive front to work together (regardless of whether they have endorsed Sanders or Warren). Though preserving space for constructive debate over left electoral strategy and tactics will be critical, we urge doing so in a way that does not detract from the important task of reaching outward, engaging the unconvinced and unorganized social forces we will need to win.

To that end, Organizing Upgrade will be publishing a number of pieces in the coming week from left organizers of varied perspectives that discuss the WFP endorsement, the DSA’s “Bernie or Bust” resolution, and other developments related to the 2020 elections. Our goal is to continue engaging left organizers in strategic dialogue during a pivotal moment in history and we welcome you to join the conversation. The stakes could not be higher.

The conference will be streamed from Chicago to regional meetings in New Haven, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Whether you’re on the East Coast, West Coast, in the MIdwest or the South, you’ll be able to participate.[19]